Where does “drier” come from?

Drier derives from English dry with the agent suffix -er, tracing back through Old French -er, Latin -āre (infinitive marker), Latin -ārius (agent suffix meaning "one who"), and Proto-Italic -os.

drier (English): Alternative spelling of dryer; comparative form...

Definitions

  1. Alternative spelling of dryer; comparative form...

Ancestry of “drier”, step by step

drier traces back through two separate lines of ancestry.

via English dry

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1EnglishdryFree from or lacking moisture; Unable to produce...
2Middle EnglishdryeDry; lacking wetness, humidity, or water; Not...
3Old Englishdrȳġedry; dry; parched, withered
4Proto-West Germanic*drūgidry
5Proto-Germanicdrūgizhard, solid; dry
6Proto-Indo-Europeandʰerǵʰ-to strengthen; to strengthen; become hard; to...
7Proto-Indo-Europeandʰer-to support; to hold

via German Dreier

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1GermanDreierthree; threesome
2German-erForms agent nouns etc. from verbs, suffixed to...
3Old High German-āriused to form agent nouns
4Proto-West Germanic-ārī-er
5Proto-Germanic-ārijaz-er
6Latin-āriuser
7Proto-Italic*-āziosForms relational adjectives to nouns (and rarely numerals)
Every word from Proto-Indo-European dʰer-
drier — Etymology, Origin & Word History | Etymology Explorer